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/ Events

Computation of Emotions in Man and Machines

20 April 2009 09:00 - 17:00

Organised by Professor Peter Robinson and Dr Rana el Kaliouby

Charles Darwin highlighted the importance of emotional expression as part of human communication. Advances in computer technology now allow machines to recognise and express emotions, paving the way for improved human-computer and human-human communications.

This meeting will present recent advances in neuroscience, theories of emotion and affect, their embodiment in computational systems, the implications for general communications, and broader applications.

The discussion meeting runs from 9am to 5pm on each day. The registration desk will open at 8.30am on each day.

The meeting programme and book of abstracts is available below. The audio recordings of the meeting are available below.

The proceedings of this meeting are scheduled to be published in a future publication of Philosophical Transactions B.

Organisers

  • Professor Peter Robinson

    Peter Robinson is  Professor of Computer Technology and Deputy Head of the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge in England, where he leads the Rainbow Group working on computer graphics and interaction.
    His research concerns new technologies to enhance communication between computers and their users, and new applications to exploit these technologies. Recent work has included desk-size projected displays and inference of users' mental states from facial expressions, speech, posture and gestures. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the British Computer Society.

  • Dr Rana el Kaliouby

    Rana el Kaliouby is a Research  Scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at the Media Laboratory. Her research interests include inventing new affective technologies that enable the real-time and offline measurement of people's affective and cognitive experiences to enhance understanding of oneself and communication with others. She is a founding member of the Autism Communication Technology Initiative at MIT. Her current research developing the first in the world suite of wearable prostheses designed to enrich the social interactions of individuals on the autism spectrum was rated among the top 100 innovations of the year 2006 by New York Times. Her work has been featured in the NewScientist, New York Times, Reuters, CNET, Wired, the Boston Globe, Slashdot and BoingBoing. El Kaliouby is the 2006 recipient of the Global Women and Inventors Network, Higher Education & Learning Institutes (Gold Award). El Kaliouby holds a BS and MS in Computer Science from the American University in Cairo, and a Ph.D. from the Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge.